President Donald Trump said he canceled his proposed military parade on Friday, blaming greedy local officials for driving up the costs.
“The local politicians who run Washington, D.C. (poorly) know a windfall when they see it,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “When asked to give us a price for holding a great celebratory military parade, they wanted a number so ridiculously high that I canceled it.”
Trump said that he would go the “parade” at Andrews Air Force Base, presumably referring to the annual air show in Maryland as well as the parade in Paris, held on November 11th to commemorate the end of World War I.
“Maybe we will do something next year in D.C. when the cost comes WAY DOWN,” he wrote.
Trump was first enamored with the idea of hosting a military parade in the United States after attending a parade in Paris for Bastille Day.
CNBC reported that Trump’s proposed military parade for November was estimated to cost $92 million, much more expensive that the originally estimated $12 million.
The Defense Department released a statement on Thursday noting that it would explore the possibility of a military parade in 2019.
Trump suggested that the parade savings would be used to buy more airplanes for the military.
“Now we can buy some more jet fighters!” he wrote.